Be Still, My Heart
by Milkbottle
Summary: "Now a not-too-shabby stint on the bestseller lists as an author of fantastical fiction had made me rather open-minded on the whole 'world-is-a-strange-place' brand of baloney, but a giant, pulsating hole in the sky was not quite up to my digestive capabilities." Little 'Battle of New York' drabble, featuring the lovely Steve Rogers. R&R please.


Now a not-too-shabby stint on the bestseller lists as an author of fantastical fiction had made me rather open-minded on the whole 'world-is-a-strange-place' brand of baloney, but a giant, pulsating hole in the sky was not quite up to my digestive capabilities.

Not to mention those squalling, scaly, sticky, ridiculously violent creatures that were tumbling right through it on carriers and flying machines of a technology that looked positively _alive_ , waving around those pointy sticks and eviscerating everything in sight with some cool-looking blue stuff that was surely too luminescent to be anything earth-related—the word _alien_ was being bandied around but I knew better, I had obviously eaten way too much bacon at that café I'd been sitting in when everything went to hell in a hand basket.

A five year old squealed in fear as one of the things pointed its stick at it and a tiny bead of blue began to form at the tip—with epic reflexes, I grabbed a lonesome plate and frisbee-d it straight into its unknowing skull. It went down like a house of cards.

My, how cool was that.

"Well, come on then," I wheezed as the kid stared up at me with these huge blue eyes (I tried very hard not to preen). "Down to the basement, I suppose, that's where everybody is." Both of us began to sprint straight towards the entrance of the café where everybody else was mucking about in a state of panicked tension—a random guy, presumably the kid's dad suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began to shower the kid with sloppy kisses. "You saved him!" he said with shining eyes.

"Well," I said with faux modesty—so what if the guy looked forty or whatever, he _was_ rather cute. "It was nothing."

"Thank you," he said fervently, and then ran right in with the boy in his arms. I preened a little again and then began to follow, but then something bad happened. The roof above the porch began to cave. It then proceeded to absolutely annihilate any semblance of a path to safety and poor old me was left gaping outside with nothing but aliens and other panicking headless chickens for company, go figure.

"Well, shit," I said, and wasn't _that_ an understatement. Some weird whizzing noise began to thrum in the air and I whipped around to see one of those sticks pointed straight at my heart, the alien grinning away at me in thrilled victory, didn't their kind ever _stay_ down? Blue was gathering at the pointy end. I immediately began to panic, because my next book was due to launch in only a few weeks, nobody was going to read it now because they would be dead, and damn it, I was too pretty to die, _whatamIgonnadoholyshit_ —and then my eyes jerked to my right and I realized, I was standing right next to one of those giant metal trashcans. How convenient. I grabbed the lid as fast as I could and hid behind it in anticipation of the deadly attack, eyes clenched shut and lips curving around a little f-word that aptly described every feeling in my tiny body, God save me, _holy shit_ , I was going to die now, and I hadn't even found the love of my life yet, when nothing happened.

Five seconds passed and I cracked open my eyes. This alien sure was taking a lot of time. How long did it take for that thing to load again?

I peeped over the lid. There was a guy in a spandex suit standing on top of the downed alien looking all mighty and powerful and very, very sexy despite the spangled garb, wow, I had a savior and he was hot on top of that. There was a cool shield in his hand.

I tried not to turn into a puddle of goo. "Well, you sure know how to show 'em."

Captain America's lips tugged to form a rather beautiful smile. I stared back, a little entranced. Then his eyes focused on my shoddy lid.

"Handy, that," he said, nodding at the powerful tool of death and destruction in my hands. The look in his eyes shone of a million inside jokes that honestly made me want to make out with him a little bit, but really, now wasn't the time for that sort of business.

I gave him a pointed look. "Gotta make do with what I have—most of us don't get cool shields to toss around."

"No, it's—" he paused for a second, smile widening further. "It's good."

My, how eloquent.

There was a moment of silence. I spent that moment shamelessly checking out every inch of his body, golly gee, this man was smoking. Then I did the thing.

"Wow, man, that getup sure does some favors for you," my mouth said without my permission, before continuing to brazenly dig its own grave no matter how much I told it to shut up. "I'd definitely jump your bones if the world wasn't about to end or whatever."

You know, the thing. The word vomit.

It was a chronic disease.

I wasn't quite positive because the outfit he was wearing covered most of his lovely body but I was pretty sure he'd just blushed right down to his little toes. "Miss," he said, obviously trying to regain a semblance of composure. I gave him an expectant leer. "You need to get to safety." He turned around in search of a good little niche to cower in. "There's an entrance to the subway just across the street—can you make it there without a problem?"

"Sure," I gave him a little grin. "No biggie." For a brief moment, I looked at him, belatedly conscious of the raging ruination all around us. "Get, now, I'm sure you've got plenty other damsels to save. Quick question, though," I added as he made to turn around and leave. "That hole in the sky… is it going to be closing any time soon?"

Captain America looked a little helpless. I tried not to go up to him and cuddle him to my chest, now _honestly_ wasn't the time. "I don't know, Miss, but we're doing the best we can."

There was a small pause.

"Good enough, I suppose," I said with a shrug. The way he kept calling me 'Miss' though, wow, he sure knew how to get a girl's mojo on. He gave me a smile and then made to leave again, giving me an amazing view of his lush little backside, and I thought, oh hell, this _totally_ was the time, who was I kidding?

"Captain?" I drawled, and when he turned around this time, I was a lot closer to him than he had expected me to be. His mouth opened in surprise, obviously about to spew another adorably questionable 'Miss?' but he didn't quite get the chance to, considering his lips were so busy smacking against mine.

"Mm," I said as I wound my arms around his gorgeous shoulders, prolonging the kiss a bit more because honestly, this man tasted _divine_. "Lovely."

"Er," he stammered, a little unable to speak. I gave him another kiss for being so delightful before stepping away with a bit of reluctance. "Okay, that was nice."

There was a lull in conversation.

"We could do this again," I suggested, giving him my prettiest smile. He stared back, looking stupefied. "But more properly, I suppose, after the world's stopped ending. Here, my email," I pulled a notepad out of my pocket—excuse me, I am a writer, I go nowhere without a notepad in my pocket—and hurriedly scribbled down my name and email id. "But it's up to you, I suppose," I made sure to mention, because there was an equal chance I was just creeping the boy out. "Okay, bye."

I walked away with my lid, determinedly not looking behind me—I also added in a little sway to my hips for good measure, because there was no way the situation could deteriorate any more than it already had (hello, _aliens)._ That alien's scepter was lying on the ground, all lonesome and abandoned, so I bent down and picked it up cautiously. Could come in handy.

I felt him still staring at my back, and I turned around to give him a little shrug. "It's an alien invasion, love," I said, looking unashamed. My ego spiked a bit when I saw his face spreading to form a lovely little smile. "I got nothing to regret."

I debated running back and planting another one on his pink little lips, but then thought otherwise because the man did need to save the world, and I really didn't need to delay him even more than I already had, so with that masterful delivery, I turned around and sprinted straight across the street to the subway entrance that was to be my salvation.

On the bright side, I figured as made my way down the steps to join the resonating throng of panicked people below… I did have a smashing plot for a new book.

Now if only I could find more bacon.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Okay, so this came out of nowhere, but I simply _had_ to write it—that image of Captain America with his shield, staring down at a tiny little thing with a trash lid in her hands amidst a whole bunch of apocalyptic annihilation was a bit too hard to resist, not to mention the image of pre-serum Steve with his own makeshift shield, defending himself against bullies in dark alleys—honestly, the irony did tickle me quite rigorously.

I hope you liked it—do tell me what you think in a review. Have a nice day!

Love,

R.


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